UF ‘not good enough,’ says Napier after USF upset

Holding a one-point lead in the final three minutes of Saturday’s game against South Florida, Florida shot itself in the foot with two costly penalties on defense.

Bulls kicker Nico Gramatica made the No. 13 Gators pay with his right leg.

18.5-point underdog South Florida pulled off its second upset in as many weeks when Gramatica, the son of former NFL kicker Martin Gramatica, booted a 20-yard field goal as time expired for an 18-16 victory in the Swamp.

South Florida routed No. 25 Boise State 34-7 at home in its Aug. 28 opener, its first victory over a ranked opponent since 2016. The Bulls had dropped 18 straight against ranked teams.

Saturday’s victory over the Gators was even more impressive. It was USF’s first road win against a ranked opponent since its 23-20 victory at No. 16 Notre Dame on Sept. 3, 2011.

According to ESPN Research, the Bulls are only the fourth team in the AP poll era (since 1936) to win their first two games against ranked opponents while being unranked, joining 1976 North Carolina, 2008 East Carolina and 2012 Oregon State.

The Bulls play at No. 5 Miami next week. They’ll try to become only the fifth team to start a season 3-0 with three wins over ranked opponents; 1987 Miami, 1985 Michigan, 1960 Iowa and 1954 Oklahoma were the others.

“We’ve got to be able to go handle success,” USF coach Alex Golesh said. “We’ve just got to continue to push forward. This ain’t the same old South Florida, my brother.”

It was Florida’s first defeat at home against a school from Florida, other than Florida State or Miami, since a 16-14 loss to Stetson in 1938.

“It’s not good enough,” Florida coach Billy Napier said. “We’ve got work to do. You guys know it. I know it. Anybody that watched it knows it. We got to take ownership of it, and we got to go back to work. That’s it.”

The loss will surely put more pressure on Napier, whose teams are 20-20 in his four seasons. Florida started 1-1 for the fourth straight season and its schedule is going to get even more treacherous with four straight games against ranked foes: at No. 3 LSU, at No. 5 Miami, home against No. 7 Texas and at No. 19 Texas A&M.

The Gators would owe Napier a $20.4 million buyout if he’s fired, including 50% in the first 30 days of his termination.

“We created it. We deserve it,” Napier said of the criticism. “If you play football like that, you’re going to be criticized. It comes with the territory, right? Only thing you can do is go get it fixed, and that’s what we’ll start working on tomorrow.”

South Florida gave Gramatica a chance to put them ahead with less than three minutes to go, but his 58-yard field goal attempt was short with 2:52 left.

Florida got the ball back at its 40-yard line and went three and out, taking only 27 seconds off the clock. Gators quarterback DJ Lagway misfired on two passes, including one to Vernell Brown III on third-and-8. Tommy Doman’s 47-yard punt pinned the Bulls at their 11-yard line with 2:25 remaining.

That’s when things fell apart for Florida. On second down, Gators cornerback Dijon Johnson was penalized for pass interference, giving USF a first down.

On the next play, Florida stuffed Alvon Isaac for no gain. But Gators defensive lineman Brendan Bett was penalized for unsportsmanlike conduct and ejected from the game for spitting in the face mask of USF offensive lineman Cole Skinner after the play. The 15-yard penalty gave the Bulls a first down at their 39-yard line.

On the next play, Byrum Brown threw a short pass to Alvon Isaac, who broke three tackles for a 29-yard gain. Brown threw a 12-yarder to Joshua Porter to get to the Florida 20.

Betts’ ejection came two days after Philadelphia Eagles star defensive tackle Jalen Carter was booted from the game for spitting on Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott in the Eagles’ 24-20 victory on Thursday night.

“I haven’t had that conversation with him yet,” Napier said of Bett. “We’ll take a good look at it, but it’s unacceptable. I think we’ve got a lot of players in that room as well that have the same belief that it’s unacceptable.

“When a guy does something like that, he’s compromising the team. He’s putting himself before the team. Everything the game is about, you’re compromising, so there will be lessons to be learned there. Yeah, it’s that simple.”

Florida was penalized 11 times for 103 yards, and a handful were costly. In the first half, the Gators committed two penalties that wiped out touchdowns on the same possession. A holding penalty negated Ja’Kobi Jackson’s 20-yard scoring run, and then a pass-interference penalty brought back Lagways’ 14-yard touchdown pass to Tony Livingston.

Florida had to settle for Trey Smack’s 36-yard field goal and a 6-3 lead.

“Not good enough, and it’s my responsibility,” Napier said. “I think when you evaluate the game, the red zone missed opportunities caught up with us, and we let them hang around. Certainly the penalties contributed to the game. It extended their drives, and it slowed down our drives.”

Lagway, who led the Gators to a four-game winning streak to end the 2024 season, didn’t look comfortable against USF’s defense, and Florida’s offensive line struggled to protect him. He completed 23 of 33 passes for 222 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

The Bulls took a 13-9 lead into the fourth quarter after Byrum Brown threw a 66-yard touchdown to Keshawn Singleton with 2:03 left in the third. Florida had a bad snap that resulted in a safety, giving USF a 15-9 lead with 13 seconds to go in the quarter.

The Gators went ahead 16-15 on Lagway’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Eugene Wilson II with 12:29 to go, which came after Vernell Brown’s 40-yard punt return.